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Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Amazing Grace, the Butcher that Bakes
I just have to share with you my weekend...
Started out pretty ordinary.
My kids and I, waiting around for the husband to assume childcaring detail after working til lunch time, so I could begin my big adventure.
Eventually he arrived and after a few quick housekeeping issues were sorted out, I exited for a weekend at my friend, Grace Maiolo's home.
For those who have been reading the Women Can International Inc newsletter, you will know that Grace was Women Can International Inc's February Woman of Influence Award recipient. Having stayed overnight in her home, I can verify that this woman is truly amazing!
Grace Maiolo, cracking open the bubbly!
Let me describe my overnight stay with Grace (pictured above) so that you can really appreciate the woman and the wonderful opportunity that it was for me.
Firstly, Grace's day begins at 3:30am, when she gets up and goes to the shop to cut up the meat for the day. She then serves in the butcher shop until 3:30pm on a good day or 5pm on a normal day. This is a routine she has maintained 7 days a week for over 30 years. When asked how many hours she sleeps, she said, "A couple of hours of good sleep does me." When I asked her, "Don't you get tired?" She responded, "Not until I sit down."
Now you have to understand that I have seen this lady in action. She can cater for a crowd of over 90 people, as she did for the 6PR Offle Afternoon and not sit down once the whole day! She just goes and goes and goes and is so passionate about making the people around her feel wonderful.
Back to the weekend. She finished work at 3:30pm and rushed home, grabbed a quick shower and when I arrived at 4:15pm, she had the appearance of simple stress-free elegance and you would have no idea she's been cutting up carcases and working in a butcher's shop all day. Further, the table is laid especially for me, the house has been prepared for me and she has taken particular care to make sure that my every need has been catered for! Not only that, she concentrated her whole focus on me and making me feel special, wanted and very loved. Her broad grin and welcoming hug made me feel like I'd come home to a long lost friend and i just knew from the moment I walked in the front door that I was in for a huge treat because of the warmth and generosity of the woman. It's almost like a physical embrace - I've never met anyone who has the gift of hospitality as strong as Grace does. Nothing is a problem for Grace. Her positivity is uplifting.
The beautiful wood table we dined at!
Her home, an elegant house with a lot of beautiful Jarrah woodwork, is filled with strong wooden furniture. The central furniture piece is the large wooden dining table that seats 10 and has seen countless dinner party guests have their fill of her fine fare. A very solidly built table, as I sat down I wondered what stories it would tell of the many dinners and diners Grace has hosted.
Her kitchen, Grace's favourite room in the house, is well stocked and there is everything a woman needs for entertaining within easy grasp. Check out my quick snaps of the table she had laid just for me (above) and of her pantry that she uses for her entertaining ware! (below)
Grace's Pantry - Stocked for entertaining!
As the evening progresses, we are joined by her partner, Anthony. I am treated to a hot spa, a massage, gifts on the bedside table waiting for me (a box of chocolates and a gift box of sweet smelling body treats), the softest bathrobe imaginable is hung in the cupboard for me to don, with matching slip on slippers. Glasses of the finest champagne are served generously throughout the evening and more food than I could eat.
A simple entree, Grace style!
After all the fun and festivity, I retreat to the solitude of the upstairs guest room, which incidentally is as good, if not better, better than a 5 star luxury hotel room. In the suite upstairs there is a toilet, sink, fridge, pantry, sideboard with my favourite lollies, kettle, coffee cups, dining table, large screen television, classical music pumping out of a stereo, then in the bedroom there is a lounge suite, dressing table with beautiful lamp, wooden cupboard, and a king size bed, with a beautiful rich red and gold duvet, complete with white towels beautifully folded, with a face washer on top! Even thte toilet paper in the ensuite was folded back, hotel style.
Overall, a wonderful overnight jaunt, not to mention we cooked up some business
ventures together which are VERY exciting!
Friday, June 13, 2008
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Family
Emily, Elise, Sarah, Adonijah and HayleyYou may have read this before, but today I felt it was a message that was quite important for everyone everywhere. It is particularly pertinent to me, having had a few spats with my children the past couple of days. It brings home how important our families really are and how special.
A POEM I RECEIVED VIA EMAIL ABOUT "F A M I L Y"
I ran into a stranger as he passed by, 'Oh excuse me please' was my reply.
He said, 'Please excuse me too; I wasn't watching for you.'
We were very polite, this stranger and I.
We went on our way and we said goodbye.
But at home a different story is told,
How we treat our loved ones, young and old.
Later that day, cooking the evening meal,
My son stood beside me very still.
When I turned, I nearly knocked him down.
'Move out of the way,' I said with a frown.
He walked away, his little heart broken.
I didn't realize how harshly I'd spoken.
While I lay awake in bed,
God's still small voice came to me and said,
'While dealing with a stranger, common courtesy you use,
but the family you love, you seem to abuse.
Go and look on the kitchen floor,
You'll find some flowers there by the door.
Those are the flowers he brought for you.
He picked them himself: pink, yellow and blue.
He stood very quietly not to spoil the surprise,
you never saw the tears that filled his little eyes.'
By this time, I felt very small,
And now my tears began to fall.
I quietly went and knelt by his bed; '
Wake up, little one, wake up,' I said.
'Are these the flowers you picked for me?'
He smiled, 'I found 'em, out by the tree.
I picked 'em because they're pretty like you.
I knew you'd like 'em, especially the blue.'
I said, 'Son, I'm very sorry for the way I acted today;
I shouldn't have yelled at you that way.'
He said, 'Oh, Mom, that's okay.
I love you anyway.'
I said, 'Son, I love you too,
and I do like the flowers, especially the blue.'
FAMILY
Are you aware that if we died tomorrow, the company that we are working for could easily replace us in a matter of days. But the family we left behind will feel the loss for the rest of their lives.
And come to think of it, we pour ourselves more into work than into our own family, an unwise investment indeed, don't you think?
So what is behind the story?
Do you know what the word FAMILY means?
FAMILY = (F)ATHER (A)ND (M)OTHER (I) (L)OVE (Y)OU
A Message about Family from Hayley Solich
Last weekend I felt to lay a table in honour of my family. I am currently temporarily separated from my husband and the children had been with him for the weekend. So when they arrived home it was to a table that was set with some party stuff and special note for each person. I took a lot of care in the presentation of the table and I cooked a beautiful roast meal. As I was sitting at the table my children said to me, "Mum, what's the party for?" Their little faces were so excited and they couldn't work out why I'd done it. I started to get teary and I said, "It is in celebration of our family." They were all so excited and my husband just looked at me with a grateful light in his eye, because in the note I'd placed in front of him I had asked for forgiveness for not understanding him better, not trying harder and not being there for him when he needed me most.
The point is, family is important. It's the most important part of our lives and for many years I have put other things first - my career, my latest project, my friends, my hobbies, but I realise that I have four young lives that are looking to me for an example.
Since the luncheon, I've been into two of my children's classrooms as a helper. I didn't realise just how much this would mean to them. My daughter was so excited, she kept coming up to me in the classroom and kissing me. It was a precious moment and only cost me an hour or two of my time. Just think of the opportunities I have been missing by being too busy doing my own thing. I plan to make more time for creating special memories with my children.
Monday, June 9, 2008
Women can do anything - but do we really want to????
Today, after dropping my children at school in the pouring rain, I sped down to the shops to grab a few things, hoping to get back home before my sick 9 year old realised how long I'd been.
I rushed into the shops and endured the usual shopping dramas. Declined card...no probs, just reached further into the wallet and pulled out the credit card. Baby screaming...just assumed my "screen-out-child-noises" mother's ears and didn't even hear the child anymore. Grabbing my few purchases I raced out into the gale force winds and horizontal rainfall.
Reaching the car, I jumped in and yanked the door shut. Gunning the engine, I released the clutch and the car hesitantly crawled forward. It felt a bit strange but I had the music blaring and didn't realise at this point that I had a flat tyre. It was as I was about to exit the car park that I heard the thump thump thump above the blaring music and pulled over, jumped out and saw the completely flat tyre. At that point, I could of used a few choice words but instead, being the woman that I am, totally used to crisis, I calmly pulled the car into a side bay and sat for a few minutes deciding what to do as I watched the rivers of water running down my windscreen.
Fishing my mobile out of my bag, I phoned the RAC (Roadside Assistance), as for the first time in over 10 years I'd decided to take our membership!
The young woman on the phone asked me a series of standard questions. "What is the number plate of the car?" I dumbly said, "I don't know. It's raining and the number plate is on the outside of the vehicle." Then she asked me, "What street are you on?" Once again, feeling a little stupid I responded, "I don't know. I'm only new to the area." I heard her take a deep breath then ask me, "Do you have a spare tyre with you?" This time I felt the size of an ant and responded, "I don't know. It's a borrowed vehicle." A long pause ensued, then she said, "No problem." I could almost hear her thinking aloud, "Yep, got one of those week, wishy-washy women here who don't know one end of a car from the other and are hopeless at managing their lives?"Eventually she let me know someone would be out within the hour and hung up.
Being the impatient person that I am, all I could think of was my poor sick child at home alone and this was my fretty child who would be upset at having been abandoned. The next thought was, what are you doing, Hayley? Aren't you the Chairperson of Women Can? Why don't you get out of the car into the torrential rain and change the blasted tyre yourself? Why are you going to sit there and wait for God knows how long when you can probably do this yourself?So, for some stupid reason, I decided to prove to the world (but mostly to myself) that I was not some poor defenseless woman who needed a man to do everything for them.
I got out of the car in the pouring rain, went to the boot and lifted the lid. I found the wheel, which was bolted in place. It took me some time but I eventually located the tool to unscrew it. The whole time the rain is pelting my back and I started to feel cold, as I was totally unprepared for wet weather.
Eventually I got the tyre out and found the jack. I wheeled the tyre to the side of the vehicle and stood looking at the jack and lever. I had only ever seen my husband and father change a tyre, so I had some idea but not much of what to do. I looked under the car and at the jack and under the car and at the jack again. I decided it had to hit something solid, so placed it carefully some way under the car. Then I attached the lever and started to turn. It was so hard going, that I found it really hard to turn, but managed to start to lift the car.
I had gotten the car high enough to take the pressure off the wheels, but low enough so that I could untighten the nuts before lifting it right off the ground. It was then that I discovered that a tyre has a hub cap thingy and I had no idea how to get it off.Temporarily challenged, I went back to the boot and realised that the water had saturated my work things which I had stashed in the boot because I had not thought to close the lid! DOH!
Sighing, I searched frantically for something to take off the hubcap. Eventually I found a tool with a flat end and decided to take a few minutes break out of the rain under the shelter of the shopping complex awning.
All the time I was doing this I kept telling myself, "Hayley, you are the Chairperson of Women Can. You can do anything!" While internally a small voice was saying, "But didn't you join the RAC so that they could take care of things like this?" I quickly silenced that wise inner voice - after all, I was a woman on a mission!
It was as I was standing there contemplating what to do next that I saw a flash of yellow out of the corner of my eye. I have never been so grateful to see an RAC van in my life! The guy hopped out and met me at the car. When he saw my handiwork he turned to me with a smile and congratulated me on getting this far as I'd done everything correctly. Internally I warmed a few degrees, but assumed the weak female position for his benefit, saying, "Thanks, I ran out of steam."
He took about 2 minutes to have that tyre off and a new one on, which he had to pump up using his machine in his van. Imagine if you will how I would have been had I got that blasted tyre on and then realised it too was flat!
Suffice to say, as I watched him easily wind the jack lever and I looked down at my hands which were now black from the brake pads powder from the inside of the tyre I had lifted into the boot, in that moment I decided that I'm glad I'm not a man and that they can have all that goes with the practicalities of maintaining a car! After all, women can do anything they set their heart to, but in some instances it pays to choose not to! As the saying goes, why have a dog and bark yourself?
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Preparing for the rain
If you know that it is going to rain, you prepare for it. You do your washing, you do your gardening, you pack away everything that might get ruined in the downpour. Why is it that when you know there is going to be a deluge of activity in our lives we are less diligent in preparing for it and are often caught out in the rain?
I have spent most of my early evening, contemplating the thunder storm that they have forecast for tomorrow afternoon. As I was hanging out the washing in the early afternoon, I was remembering how yesterday had been a really sunny day and I could have easily done all my washing yesterday and would have been pulling in dry clothes, instead of hanging out wet ones in such conditions.
As I saw the clouds slowly start to roll across the sky, I was internally berating myself. Procrastination - an old friend - had rendered me ineffective again. However, when I realised the weather report, the threat of impending doom motivated me to action.
Isn't our lives sometimes like this? We are forever looking back at the good old days and wondering what happened. We see our now sagging breasts, spreading middle and hips and are left wondering why we didn't make the most of the golden days of independence when our bodies were up to the challenge. Or we only get our act together when we are faced with the negative consequences of our procrastination.
I guess the rain must fall in all our lives. The question is, do we have to wait for an impending deluge to get ourselves motivated? I think not. We have choices. We can take action today to secure a happier tomorrow.
It bears thinking about!
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